Khan Bahadur Ghulam Nabi Kazi


Ghulam Nabi Kazi MBE was an educator in Sindh, which is one of the four provinces of what is now Pakistan. He rose to the position of first Director of Public Instruction Sindh after remaining Educational Inspector Sindh in the Bombay Presidency.

Family

His father, Din Mohamed Kazi, was a highly notable personality of the area. He was closely related to the renowned intellectual Allama I. I. Kazi. Kazi was severely shocked when his wife Maryam was diagnosed as having cancer in 1942 by his cousin Dr Ali Ahmed S Kazi and her death devastated him. He died in 1955 and was survived by two sons A G N Kazi and Justice Bashir Ghulam Nabi Kazi, two daughters Khaki and Ayesha, married to Mumtaz Kazi and Ahmed Hussain A Kazi, respectively. His several grand children include Tariq Kazi, Farooq Kazi, Mutawakkil Kazi, Rabia Kazi Junejo, Rafiq Kazi, Khalid Kazi, Safia Kazi, Nilofer Kazi Qureshi, Shahnaz Kazi, Nasir Kazi, Safdar Kazi, Salma Kazi Bozdar, Sohail Kazi, Mansoor Kazi, Asma Kazi and Ghulam Nabi Kazi.

Career

Kazi started his career as Principal of the Naushero Feroze Madressah. High schools during those days were called madressahs to dispel the impression that they were averse to religion and this name served to increase the enrolment of students. Even the Founder of Pakistan Mohammed Ali Jinnah studied at a school called the Sindh Madressah. As soon as Sindh became a separate province in 1936, he was appointed to head the Education Sector as Director of Public Instructions Sindh by the Governor Sir Lancelot Graham. In that capacity he was also Member of the Education Advisory Board of India and often visited the capital Delhi to represent his province in these meetings. He was with Sir Lancelot Graham when the latter visited the Sindh Madressah School on 8 August 1936. He carried out several reforms in the education sector with the help of his colleagues such as Khan Bahadur S D Contractor and Khan Bahadur Noor-ud-Din Ghulamally Nana. He retired in 1939, and was succeeded by Dr Umar Bin Muhammad Daudpota.

Titles

He was awarded the titles of Khan Bahadur in 1934 and MBE in 1938 for his efforts for good governance in the education sector and rapid improvement in the literacy rate in the province.